The Night Beat: What the Heck Was McChrystal Thinking? — Good evening. — ROLLING STAN: What in the heck was Gen. Stanley McChrystal thinking? I mean, I know what he was thinking: he was tired of being the victim of what he believes is a concerted effort on behalf of Ambassador …

Furious Obama summons McChrystal to explain W.H. slams — The top commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, has been summoned to the White House to explain biting and unflattering remarks he made to a freelance writer about President Barack Obama and others in the Obama administration.

Advanced Petard Hoistmanship — With oak leaf cluster. McChrystal's in hot water for blowing up his boss, again, this time in a Rolling Stone interview, has been called back to explain. I don't know why he and his advisors thought they could crack wise to a Rolling Stone reporter and not read about it later.

McChrystal on Defensive for Remarks — Relations between the U.S. military and civilians in the Obama administration have been tense since last year's three-month review of Afghan war strategy, a state of affairs unlikely to be helped by a new profile of Gen. Stanley McChrystal …

McChrystal Is Summoned to Washington Over Remarks — KABUL, Afghanistan — An angry President Obama summoned his top commander in Afghanistan to Washington on Tuesday after a magazine article portrayed the general and his staff as openly contemptuous of some senior members of the Obama administration.

A Tale of Two Disasters — Bush was blamed for local failures after Katrina. Obama got a free ride for weeks as federal failures mounted during the Gulf spill. — In many respects, the Deepwater Horizon disaster and Katrina are mirror images of each other.

Why Won't Obama Waive the Jones Act? — Five years ago, in the midst of another crisis in the Gulf of Mexico, the Bush administration waived the Jones Act, easing the way for foreign vessels to move in U.S. waters and between ports. The decision came with the administration under duress for its handling of Hurricane Katrina.

Orszag Leaving as Budget Director — Peter R. Orszag will leave his job as the White House budget director in July, according to someone familiar with his plans, making him perhaps the first official to leave the Obama Cabinet and removing a major player from President Obama's economic team.

Is U.S. Now On Slippery Slope To Tyranny? — When Adolf Hitler was building up the Nazi movement in the 1920s, leading up to his taking power in the 1930s, he deliberately sought to activate people who did not normally pay much attention to politics. — Such people were a valuable addition …

In Law Schools, Grades Go Up, Just Like That — One day next month every student at Loyola Law School Los Angeles will awake to a higher grade point average. — But it's not because they are all working harder. — The school is retroactively inflating its grades, tacking on 0.333 to every grade recorded in the last few years.

Faustus Makes a Deal — It was the winter of 2007. Dr. Faustus, the famous left-wing philologist, was sitting in a coffee shop in despair over the Bush-Cheney regime and the future of his country. — Suddenly, Mephistopheles, who happened to be the provost at his college, appeared, sipping a double mocha frappuccino.